The animal, black in colour is described as being much larger than a labrador dog and clearly feline in features. It has been independently sighted by at least three people in the area. Gardai admit the stories of the sightings are credible.

Sightings of the animal first emerged early this year when Kilnagross man, David Price first came across the 'big cat'.
David was out walking his dog with a friend when the springer spaniel suddenly raced across a stream and a nearby field.

Following the path of his dog, David and his companion were surprised to see a large black animal moving in a low crouch across an adjoining field.

"It was about 10am in the morning. At the bottom of our land is a deep stream and as we got near it the dog went absolutely berserk. He shot off over the stream and across a nearby field and when we both looked across we saw a very large black animal.

"At first I though it must be a very, very large dog but after watching it for a short time it became obvious by the way it moved, crouched low to the ground, that it was no dog," he recalled.

After watching the mystery animal for almost a minute, David and his companion could only look on in amazement as the animal suddenly shot off at speed out of view.

On their return home, David rang the gardai to report his sighting.
"Our local garda, Garda John O'Donoghue said I should look to see if there were any prints left behind by the animal. So, a few hours after we first saw it, I went back to the stream, crossed it and almost straight away I saw a paw print. It was huge, much bigger than a dog or normal cat," he said.

David called Garda O'Donoghue and together they returned to the site and took photographs of the prints.

"I don't think Garda O'Donoghue could believe the size of the print. I've never seen anything like it," recalled David.

A few days later David was again walking his dog in an adjoining field when he found further prints.

"There was a severe frost that morning and it was bitterly cold. I was just looking around and I saw another huge print left in a cow pat. I pried the cow pat off the ground and brought it back to the house. When I measured the print it was 70mm wide, that's too big to be a dog," he explained.

David is now hoping to make a plaster cast from the print to see if the animal can be positively identified by an expert but he says he has no doubt that the animal he saw was panther-like.

"I have no doubt that what we saw that morning wasn't a big dog wandering around. It didn't move like a dog and to me it looked like a big black panther," he said.

"For days afterwards every time I walked the dog near the area he'd just go berserk. He could definitely scent something unusual."
David isn't the only one to have seen this mystery animal wandering near woodlands in the south Leitrim area.

Photographer and wildlife expert Frederic Dorange, who lives only a few miles away near the village of, Keshcarrigan found himself face to face with the 'big cat' only two weeks ago.

The incident happened at around 1.30pm on Friday, March 3 as Frederic stood looking out his kitchen window. He noticed a movement nearby and watched in amazement as a cat, larger in size than a labrador dog, silently moved off towards nearby woodland.

An experienced wildlife photographer, Frederic has spent many years working in Africa and has also taken pictures in South America, Asia and numerous other locations around the globe.

Frederic says he has no doubt about the identity of the animal he saw.
"It was definitely a black leopard," he confidently states.
"I've seen them before and I was close enough to identify it. It was obvious from the way it moved when I first saw it that it wasn't a dog. As it came closer I could clearly see it was a cat.

"I believe that this animal was probably looking for a mate. They are usually nocturnal animals so it is very unusual to see them at all, even more unusual to see them in the middle of the day but if it is moving around looking for a mate then it's possible it's come into this area from somewhere else."

The idea of the 'big cat' travelling into the area from nearby counties may not be as implausible as it sounds. Only 18 months ago army marksmen were put on standby and gardai conducted air and ground searches after a "panther" was seen roaming in woodlands on the outskirts of towns in Co Monaghan.

Asked whether it is possible this could be the same animal, Frederic acknowledged this could be the case.

"In their native habitat the black leopard has a very large territory maybe covering 12 or 14 square miles. If such an animal is running wild here in Ireland, with no other competitors for food or territory and with fewer of its kind around, then it could travel huge distances in a search for a mate," he acknowledged.

With a number of animals on his property, Frederic readily admits that he is concerned about the damage that a lone black leopard could do.

"I have a mare in foal at the moment and some sheep as well. Something like a black leopard could easily take a foal or a sheep. They are the ultimate predators, very intelligent and hard to find," he said.
He admits that the animal may well have been an exotic pet which may have been set loose when it became too difficult to handle.

"There is a growing market for exotic pets like leopards, lion and tiger cubs. What people don't consider is that they grow into very big animals. They can be very dangerous and it is possible that this animal was someone's pet and it was just released into the wild when they became tired of it," he said.

"The problem is that these animals are predators and they will go for easy targets, things like dogs, cats and sheep," he said.
Frederic says he has also met a woman who had an encounter with a big black cat over the past few months.

"She told me she was driving along the road when she noticed a herd of cattle running alongside the road and some sort of large black animal running with them. This animal suddenly jumped out across the road in front of her and she said it was clearly a big black cat," he said.
Local garda John O'Donoghue admits that growing number of sightings of this animal are certainly worrying.

"What is unusual is that the two sightings that have been reported to me occurred only a short distance from each other, but neither of the men actually knew each other. Neither of them were aware that someone else had seen the animal so that certainly adds to the credibility of their stories," he admitted.

While reluctant to identify the animal as a black leopard Garda O'Donoghue said that it was "certainly a strong possibility."

"There is plenty of food around here to support an animal like that. There are rabbits and deer so it is quite possible that if an animal like that was in the area it would be able to survive," he said.
He added that there had been reports of sheep being attacked in the area in late summer last year.

"At the time we put it down to dog attacks but it is possible that an animal like this could have been responsible. There is no way we could prove that conclusively but it is a possibility," he acknowledged.

The problem of roaming exotic animals such as 'big cats' is nothing new according to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The society has openly acknowledged there is an unprecedented number of dangerous species in private hands at the moment in Ireland.

On its website the ISPCA notes that "in the last 10 years the number of exotic and potentially dangerous animals being kept in Ireland has grown considerably. There are a number of very real risks associated with such a massive, unregulated growth in the number of such animals, not least a very real threat to public safety."

It is acknowledged that, with the lack of regulation over who owns exotic animals – and certainly no licensing requirements for ownership currently in place – it is possible that some animals have escaped, surviving in forests and woodland areas.

In response the ISPCA is proposing a piece of legislation aimed at tackling what is seen as the "growing problem of abandoned exotic animals."

This legislation is proposed under two tiers:
1. A simple, cheap licence for those keeping species deemed to be "non-threatening" such as exotic birds, reptiles and smaller mammals.
2. A second more restrictive licence for animals deemed as "potentially dangerous". In order to receive this licence owners would have to provide secure caging and display adequate public safety measures.

Under the proposals a licensing authority would be set up to a police the legislation in tandem with wildlife officers and the gardai.
Anyone who may have seen this animal in or around the Keshcarrigan/Kilnagross area during the past few weeks should notify their local gardai.

Do not approach the animal under any circumstances and ensure that all farm animals, dogs and other pets are securely housed each night.